Wireless Festival (Saturday), London Hyde Park

James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem

July 3, 2010

Levels of apprehension aside, for being in a space with so very many other people, the line-up for today is patchy, sure, but better, home to some of the mega A-list; a seemingly once-in-a-lifetime appearance from Missy Elliott is placed midway down the bill in an absolutely puzzling move, with even ultra-celeb Snoop Dogg lower down than LCD Soundsystem. While ‘big’, two-nights-at-Brixton-Academy big doesn’t seem to run straight with the night before’s headliner P!nk, and the night after’s Jay-Z - let alone in terms of genre/audience-consistency running throughout each day’s programme. But this much is obvious, and it makes the events enfolding after the backdrop was laid down all too predictable.

Missy Elliott’s set is a puzzling affair, in a nutshell. Beginning with a brief appearance from her official DJ (also Timbaland’s official DJ, we’re told), we’re then left in limbo waiting the arrival of her for around another 15 minutes. When she eventually makes it on – surrounded by an Adidas-wearing swarm of dancers – she makes a half-concerted effort at miming along to medleys of ‘Get Ur Freak On’, ‘One Minute Man’ and ‘Work It’ while sashaying around the giant stage.

Posing some lazy rhetoric to the unbothered crowd in the form of questioning where exactly she’s been since the release of The Cookbook in 2005, she then refuses to answer her own question. The crowd are then thrown her protege, a miming conveyor-belt Uffie-brand R&B urchin by the name of Sharia, while Missy disappears. The protege far from impresses, and attention is quickly lost – given it’s a short slot to start with, the decision to throw the stage to someone else is most bizarre. Upon returning with in an entourage dressed in identikit Germany-themed Adidas, the crowd immediately turn and boo her off before the set is pulled midway through ‘Lose Control’. It’s still unclear whether this turn of events was due to her overrunning or a backstage plug-pull in fear of heightened booing. It’s no wonder why Missy was placed so low down on the bill.

A quick step across to the second stage for Jamie Lidell is met with surprise at the tent being around 20 percent full, which is a shame but predictable for a crowd most excited to ‘see’ 2manydjs. Now that’s not patronising, just an observation; the thing that big festival crowds want most is an enthralling, familiar backdrop to drinks with their friends outside. Lidell, as it goes, offers a set of fun and genre-slideshow, hopping his imbalanced lyrics across gospel, electronica, soul and the day’s favourite reference-points. The bookers for Wireless seem to have ignored his less sugary output, however, and  ‘Another Day’ with its full-on gospel and Shifting style, confessional and imbalanced lyrics and hook-busy Proper Established Artiste thing clearly doesn’t hit the spot, for the bookers have clearly failed to look at his background in anything other than sweet, memorable and explicit melody.

And on to New Young Pony Club, who on the third stage, are startlingly still being touted as ones to watch, the next big thing, or up and coming – shocking in the context of their brilliantly-received and really quite excellent second album The Optimist. After seeing them at Islington Academy just before its release, the show now put on feels freer and even less concscious of trend. It’s a shame that their demographic is still predominantly more interested in their outfits than colossally huge songs such as ‘We Want To’ and ‘Lost A Girl’. It’s only the faddiness of sub-genre that’s preventing Ty Bulmer transforming into the number one inhabiting frontwoman that the music’s aspiring too. They’re a still-fresh revelation in the context of this festival’s laziness thus far, the lead vocals even further away from the affected, acted-out neediness of ‘Ice Cream’ and the entirety of Fantastic Playroom.

Hip-hop titan Snoop Dogg hasn’t mellowed either, still billowing out songs about killing policemen while flat-out performing at “LONDONENGLAND LONDONENGLAND” (his words). But as big as his star is, it’s the cover of House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’ that gets the crowd going – even more than absolute ginormotune ‘Who Am I (What’s My Name)?’. An absent Dre leaves a gaping hole, but Snoop is masterful at giving the crowd what they want and makes the Missy Elliott debacle look all the more insulting. Waving “hands in the air” feels right as Snoop’s casual misogyny holds out sharp, with songs and a performance so full of energy and charisma.

I’ve covered 2manydjs already so won’t repeat (too much) how well-timed their mixing of comforting hit into comforting popular hit is, and just how easily people en masse can find enjoyment, making LCD Soundsystem’s headline show as the sun sets on Hyde Park all the more exciting.

“Hey anonymous asshole throwing stuff: do that to my face and I’ll kick your face in,” James Murphy rightly says. “And then I’ll pay your medical bill.”

And that’s the doubly-bitter bittersweet symbolished in a snapshot, as LCD Soundsystem – a project set up to annihilate hipsters – played what sure must be the death knell of their on-stage incarnation. They’re as blinding as ever, but absolutely lost on a crowd more pleased by the comfort of the familiar. “Underground favourite” (per Wikipedia) ‘Losing My Edge’ still resonates, just less here than at a regular LCD show. Murphy is milking the fact that this crowd aren’t his, by flinging in a quick cover of ‘Empire State Of Mind’ for fun, and talking at them for as long as possible without recoiling. ‘Drunk Girls’ has never resonated so much.

‘New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down’, as ever, is far from the set-closing Lou Reed level of sedate that Murphy strives for, but ‘Yeah’ is likely the best song-in-a-massive-outdoor-setting to be heard all year – it’s so much more than textbook at immersing its audience into another place entirely. The thought that LCD Soundsystem has somehow come from its origins to this sure culmination point makes me wonder quite what must be going on in Murphy’s head as he plays to a crowd of disinterested clusters.

Heck, Wireless’s got its good moments but by and large, an inconsistent bill, an unfazed-by-music crowd and Missy Elliott bring it crashing down.

No related posts.